Mountain Blog

Reading the Rocks

Nancy Story - Thursday, May 30, 2013

Flats of flowers covered the base of Totem Park last week as over 7500 annuals weredelivered to our door. Now the work begins, to splash floral color across Crystal’s outdoor canvas and make the place bright with summer colors. It takes a crew of eight, under the masterful eye of grounds manager Kathy Maginity, nearly two weeks to plant all this color – plus position the hefty monster planters throughout the premises, hang the baskets, tend to the perennials coming up through the soil, and conduct/maintain general plant health checks throughout the warm weather months into fall.

Watching it all from afar are the deer – those notorious plant eaters who view every day as a breakfast buffet. Kathy says that deer are the biggest pests on premise, chewing up hostas and yews, among other things. They’re particularly fond of tulips – which is why we don’t plant them anymore. Good thing they haven’t gone after Kathy’s favorite, the non-stop bonfire begonias, which in her view are the prettiest annual flower we display.
Begonias Persicaria polymorpha

Besides all the new annuals, our perennials have emerged in all their reliable glory. Kathy’s vote for prettiest perennial flower is the persicaria polymorpha. You’ll be able to pick out the persicaria by its rock. Perched among perennials along the walkway areas between Kinlochen, the Bungalows, and the Peak/Spa building, are rocks labeled with the names of the perennial plant they’re parked next to. By reading the rocks, guests can become familiar with the plants and flowers that adorn our landscape each summer. (Too bad the deer can't read. Rocks could identify plants as NOT ON THE MENU).